MADISON, WI – Today the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, chaired by Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point), held a public hearing regarding the confirmation of Governor Evers’ nominee Andrea Palm as Secretary of the Department of Health Services (DHS).

As Secretary-designee, Ms. Palm has already hired Nicole Safar as Assistant Deputy Secretary of DHS. Ms. Safar is no stranger to state government as she has been lobbying on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin for over a decade.

Wisconsin Family Action president Julaine Appling expressed concern about the direction DHS is going under the Evers administration. “DHS’s job according to its website is ‘protecting and promoting the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin.’ Having Ms. Safar in a key leadership role in this agency indicates to me that DHS is going to be much more about special interests and political agendas than about the needs of Wisconsin citizens. Frankly, I share Senator Duey Stroebel’s concern as expressed in the press release he issued today about Ms. Palm and Ms. Safar looking for ways to work around laws in order to direct taxpayer funds to abortion groups such as Planned Parenthood.”

“This move, along with Governor Evers appointing Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, to his Health Advisory Board, bodes ominously for unborn children and their mothers. Abortion isn’t health care—for women or their unborn babies. It certainly doesn’t qualify as ‘protecting and promoting the health and safety of the people of Wisconsin.’ As Senator Stroebel pointed out, Wisconsin and its citizens deserve better when it comes to the leadership at DHS.”

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Wisconsin Family Action is a statewide organization engaged in strengthening, preserving and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty in Wisconsin.